Netflix asked to remove episode of The Big Bang Theory over ‘derogatory’ Madhuri Dixit remarks

A political analyst has accused the streaming giant of ‘promoting sexism and discrimination against women’

Netflix has apparently been served a legal notice over a “derogatory” remark allegedly made about Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit in The Big Bang Theory.

Indian political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar claimed he has issued a notice to the streaming giant asking it to remove the first episode of season two, in which Kunal Nayyar’s character Raj Koothrapalli and Jim Parsons’s character Sheldon Cooper compare actors Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit.

While having a conversation, Sheldon calls Aishwarya Rai a “poor man’s Madhuri Dixit”.

In response, Raj says: “Aishwarya Rai is a goddess, by comparison, Madhuri Dixit is a leprous prostitute”.

Kumar says that the comments made against Dixit are “offensive and derogatory”.

“As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the dialogue,” he wrote on Twitter. “I found it highly derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women.

“So I asked my lawyer to send a legal notice to Netflix, requesting that they remove the episode from their platform. It’s important to hold media companies accountable for the content they distribute, and I hope that @NetflixIndia will take this matter seriously.”

Kumar said that failure to remove the episodes will “result in legal action being taken against” the streaming giant “for promoting sexism and discrimination against women”.

The Independent has contacted Netflix India for comment.

The Big Bang Theory aired its final episode in May 2019.